Up until yesterday my recovery week wasn't anything to write home about, other than my tempo ride on Monday. Tuesday was a rest day and Wednesday was a bunk workout day because I had a meeting at work from 10:30-1:00 and 5 minutes into my run I felt dizzy. I managed to slog through 2.5 miles mixing walking and running because I really just had no energy and bailed on the swim I was supposed to do.
Today, however, was different. Much different. And much better. My mile intervals in my 6-mile run at lunch were awesome even with the gusty wind blowing debris and dust everywhere. My trainer ride was fine on the new saddle but I'll withhold judgment until I can get more rides/time in the new saddle before I declare victory.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Shitty News
I had several appointments at the BCSM today to get fit for running and cycling orthodics. I'd been waiting for my new FSA to kick in which it did at the beginning of February. I procrastinated an entire month. My reason for obtaining orthodics was because in between last year's Vineman 70.3 and the 5430 Long Course (3 weeks) I managed to do something to my left foot which turned out to be acute Plantar Fasciitis.
If you Google Plantar Fasciitis, you'll get well over 600K hits. It's a common problem and there's a lot of gimmicky devices out there to supposedly help you get rid of it.
My solution at the time was to stop training for the season (after all of the 5430 Long Course, well, up to the first mile marker on the run), take a month off, and start training again, but using the elliptical machine in lieu of running. Additionally, I took to massaging my foot twice a day with whatever I could find. It turns out that the shaft of a long screwdriver works really well. After another few months of that, I started running again in late November (I think) starting my runs at a mile and upping by a half mile every other day (or so) until I got to 7-8 miles. I then got back into my regular running regimen for training. All that worked great....until a few weeks ago when I managed to tweak my foot in the pool, of all places, from pushing off the wall.
I've not been as good about massaging it as much as I did before but will be after today's appointment. It turns out, that I now have a bone spur on my left heel. Bones can only do one thing under trauma...grow. My fascia either partially tore, or partially detached and the bone grew to try and fill the gap.
It was a very sobering moment, looking at those X-rays.
If you Google Plantar Fasciitis, you'll get well over 600K hits. It's a common problem and there's a lot of gimmicky devices out there to supposedly help you get rid of it.
My solution at the time was to stop training for the season (after all of the 5430 Long Course, well, up to the first mile marker on the run), take a month off, and start training again, but using the elliptical machine in lieu of running. Additionally, I took to massaging my foot twice a day with whatever I could find. It turns out that the shaft of a long screwdriver works really well. After another few months of that, I started running again in late November (I think) starting my runs at a mile and upping by a half mile every other day (or so) until I got to 7-8 miles. I then got back into my regular running regimen for training. All that worked great....until a few weeks ago when I managed to tweak my foot in the pool, of all places, from pushing off the wall.
I've not been as good about massaging it as much as I did before but will be after today's appointment. It turns out, that I now have a bone spur on my left heel. Bones can only do one thing under trauma...grow. My fascia either partially tore, or partially detached and the bone grew to try and fill the gap.
It was a very sobering moment, looking at those X-rays.
An Exhausing Weekend
Saturday saw a 100-mile ride that took over 6 hours because of a 10+ mile headwind the entire way back from Ft. Collins to Boulder. And while I'll be the first to admit I bitch about headwinds (and wind in general) it wasn't the wind that made the ride bad. I was actually mostly ok with the wind. The problem was with my gloves and my seat (and thus, my ass). The weather, overall, was nice. It was bright and sunny but a cold 40 degrees. And windy.
My gloves had no padding in the palms so after trying to ride the first 50+ miles in the aero position as much as practical my palms became really sore. I have padded gloves - one day I'll actually remember to use them.
I had on two layers on my legs which was, in hindsight, too much and made for some stiff riding. Up top, I was fine, but my undershirt, actually a rash guard from Quicksilver meant for surfing, had a seam that ran the length of my arm and somehow managed to position itself right in line with where my forearms rested on my aerobar pads making for some more uncomfortableness when trying to ride in the aero position.
The worst thing, though, had to be my ass. I have a fi'zi:k Arione saddle which is not technically a triathlon saddle. Because it's not a triathlon saddle, one's seat bones slide forward on the saddle and force your crotch to bear the full weight of your torso. After 50-60 miles, this becomes too much (especially if you're a guy) and it starts hurting and makes the last 40 miles of the ride really suck.
I found out today that the Arione was the defacto standard for a while because there were really no triathlon specific saddles out there for the longest time. Times have changed. There's a plethora of saddles out on the market now and I wound up with the Specialized Phenom which is actually a mountain bike saddle according to Specialized's website. I don't care, it was the most comfortable and while it almost never turns out this way, was the most inexpensive.
After Saturday's 100-mile ride, Sunday brought forth another ride, 23 miles, and a swim (I bailed on the 1-mile run I was supposed to do after the ride on Saturday). I thought I'd be tired for the 23-mile ride, and I was, but I didn't suffer through it. I did it on the trainer watching a movie (Blade II) so maybe that helped. I was pretty thoroughly tired by the swim and ended it after 2500m.
The ride, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because my tempo ride on Monday, when I thought my legs would be totally shot (like they were 4 weeks ago when I did my last century) but I'm convinced the 23-mile ride on Sunday really helped flush out the legs and I was able to do 35 minutes in Z4 despite the massive headwind on the last 8-miles of an 11-mile Z4 TT. Speed was good, cadence was good. Workout was good.
My gloves had no padding in the palms so after trying to ride the first 50+ miles in the aero position as much as practical my palms became really sore. I have padded gloves - one day I'll actually remember to use them.
I had on two layers on my legs which was, in hindsight, too much and made for some stiff riding. Up top, I was fine, but my undershirt, actually a rash guard from Quicksilver meant for surfing, had a seam that ran the length of my arm and somehow managed to position itself right in line with where my forearms rested on my aerobar pads making for some more uncomfortableness when trying to ride in the aero position.
The worst thing, though, had to be my ass. I have a fi'zi:k Arione saddle which is not technically a triathlon saddle. Because it's not a triathlon saddle, one's seat bones slide forward on the saddle and force your crotch to bear the full weight of your torso. After 50-60 miles, this becomes too much (especially if you're a guy) and it starts hurting and makes the last 40 miles of the ride really suck.
I found out today that the Arione was the defacto standard for a while because there were really no triathlon specific saddles out there for the longest time. Times have changed. There's a plethora of saddles out on the market now and I wound up with the Specialized Phenom which is actually a mountain bike saddle according to Specialized's website. I don't care, it was the most comfortable and while it almost never turns out this way, was the most inexpensive.
After Saturday's 100-mile ride, Sunday brought forth another ride, 23 miles, and a swim (I bailed on the 1-mile run I was supposed to do after the ride on Saturday). I thought I'd be tired for the 23-mile ride, and I was, but I didn't suffer through it. I did it on the trainer watching a movie (Blade II) so maybe that helped. I was pretty thoroughly tired by the swim and ended it after 2500m.
The ride, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because my tempo ride on Monday, when I thought my legs would be totally shot (like they were 4 weeks ago when I did my last century) but I'm convinced the 23-mile ride on Sunday really helped flush out the legs and I was able to do 35 minutes in Z4 despite the massive headwind on the last 8-miles of an 11-mile Z4 TT. Speed was good, cadence was good. Workout was good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)